The Scene of the Crime
Who sold Yosef to whom? Who rises to leadership as a result of the sale? Why doesn't the Torah just tell us explicitly who sold Yosef rather than being deliberately ambiguous?
What were the roles of Reuven and Yehudah in the episode?
The brothers, the Yishmaelim, the Midyanim, and the Midanim are mentioned as participating in the sale. At the end of the episode the Yishmaelim sell Yosef to Potifar yet when the Torah returns to the story it says Potifar purchased Yosef from the Who rises to leadership as a result of the sale? !
Was Yosef sold once to a caravan of Midyanim and Yishmaelim? Was it one group with two names? Were they really Midianites except that the Torah calls them Yishmaelim (Ibn Ezra)? Was he sold multiple times as if he were chattel (Rashi)?
Rashbam and Chizkuni: it wasn't even the brothers who sold him!
Delivered at the OU Israel Center, February 27, 2019 (22 Adar I 5779)